The state funeral for Ambassador Fred Martinez was held on Saturday in Orange Walk. Now, there are many official funerals, but state funerals don't happen that often: National Hero George Price's one was in 2011, and before that you'd probably have to go back to 2003 for Agripino Cawich - who was a sitting Area Representative at the time of his passing.
So, Fred Martinez's funeral was a big deal, first because he was a senior diplomat not a sitting minister of representative, and second because of the slight novelty factor: Martinez was cremated in Guatemala - so his would be the first state funeral without a flag draped coffin - instead, it would be a flag draped urn.
7News was in Orange Walk on Saturday afternoon for the funerary ceremony:
Jules Vasquez reporting
Funeral goers included the former Minister Martinez's one time Cabinet boss Sir Manuel Esquivel and the boss at the time of his death Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington, a fair number of officials were there including municipal and national leaders from Orange Walk.
We saw Senators and Senator Ministers and of course the Head of Government and the Head of State followed at a solemn, stately pace by Captain Adrian Ramirez carrying the Urn with Martinez's cremains as the church bells at La Immaculada clanged.
The Prime Minister greeted Martinez's wife Emma and his sons, Carlo, Gianni and Etienne Inside a church that was a fitting setting because Martinez helped to re-fit it.
Bishop Dorrick Wright, Homily
"When this church was celebrating 100th anniversary I think it was, he brought a group of people together and they decided that they were going to renovate this church - make it a better looking place."
Eulogist Lisa Shoman recalled his charisma:
Hon. Lisa Shoman, Eulogy
"Was the width and humor of the man, the stories that he told in perfect creole with that accent, with the detail that he use to put into them, the roll of that accent, the sparkling olive eyes, we will all miss those. The way he would start laughing helplessly when he was telling you a story and he would say wait "ah noh done" - Fred was pure concentrated joy."
And on this day, joy tainted by deep sadness for his family. Prime Minister Dean Barrow spoke of his last meeting with a very ill Martinez two weeks ago:
Hon. Dean Barrow, Official Remembrance
"Just from his appearance one could tell that Fred was not well and so I ask him as did the Foreign Minister and CEO Rosado and Ambassador Mendez why he had made what had to have been the physically costly effort to come to DR. But Fred was dismissive of our concern, insisted that he would be fine and declared that in any event as our SICA Ambassador it was his duty to attend that summit. And that is the main reason for recollecting what prove to be our Dominican Republic goodbye. The circumstances were perfectly illustrative of two remarkable qualities of Fred; his enormous capacity for hard work and the unswerving matter of fact commitment he always brought to his charge as ambassador of and public servant to his beloved Belize."
That was the end of the funeral and his ashes were then marched out of the church for a procession through the streets of Orange Walk Town, half an hour later it arrived at the Orange Walk Cemetery where the flag was folded and the arms reversed and the urn fitted into a small vault followed by a 19 GUN salute - 19, not 21 because it is an ambassador.
The governor general laid the first wreath followed by the Prime Minister. The commander of the BDF then handed the flag to the governor general who, as Head of State then took it to the Martinez family for their final embrace.
Well-wishers greeted the family as the sun set on the first state funeral probably in the history of Orange Walk Town
And, as we told you, while Martinez has been laid to rest, the circumstances of his sudden demise continue to cause public puzzlement.
